Yankees top prospect Torres reminds Girardi of young Miggy

Gleyber Torres is making one heck of a first impression on the New York Yankees.

Torres, baseball's No. 3 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, instantly became the Yankees' top prospect when he was acquired from the Chicago Cubs last July for Aroldis Chapman. But not even the New York hype machine could have predicted his remarkable performance this spring. The 20-year-old infielder has turned heads in Tampa, hitting .478/.480/1.043 with two homers, five doubles, and a triple in 14 Grapefruit League games.

But it's the young Venezuelan's maturity level that's left manager Joe Girardi particularly impressed. On Wednesday, Girardi went so far as to compare Torres' maturity to that of Venezuelan baseball legend Miguel Cabrera, whom he managed during his one season with the Florida Marlins.

"When I had (Miguel), he was incredible," Girardi said, according to Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News. "He was (23) when I had him in the big leagues, and he'd already been there for like nine years. At that age, Miguel was really mature."

"He's 20," Girardi said of Torres. "And you wouldn't know it."

As a 20-year-old rookie with the 2003 Marlins, Miggy posted a .793 OPS and smacked 12 homers in 87 games, then played a key role in their run to a shocking World Series championship; he finished fifth in National League Rookie of the Year voting, and even got a few down-ballot MVP votes.

Young Torres will have to wait a little bit if he wants to try and match his countryman's stellar age-20 campaign - general manager Brian Cashman confirmed to Mazzeo that he'll still be starting 2017 in the minors - but it's quite clear the Yankees believe they have a future superstar on their hands.